Frame of a crib and method for expanding and folding the crib

ABSTRACT

A crib includes a top frame, four upright tubes, a bottom frame, four restriction members and two joints. The top frame includes two top end tubes and two sides connected between the two top end tubes. Each of the two sides has two side tubes between which the joint is connected. The bottom frame has two bottom tubes and each bottom tube has a straight connection section. The two respective connection sections are pivotably connected to each other and a support is connected to the bottom frame. The support has a locking unit located thereon. The four upright tubes are respectively and pivotably connected between the two top end tubes and the two bottom tubes. Four restriction members are respectively connected between the side tubes of and the upright tubes. The bottom tubes and the two sides can be folded when the locking units and joints are unlocked.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a crib frame and a method for expanding and folding the crib frame.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional baby crib frame generally includes a top frame, a bottom frame portion and four upright tubes, wherein the top frame includes four joints respectively located at the mediate portions of the four sides thereof and each joint has a first locking unit. Four corner members made by hard material are connected at the four corners of the top frame so as to connect the adjacent side tubes and the upright tubes. Each of the upright tubes is connected to the bottom frame by the four legs. Four links extend from the four legs and toward the center of the crib. A base is connected with the four links and includes a second locking unit. The first and second locking units control the crib to be expanded or folded. When folding the crib, both of the first and second locking units are unlocked first, the base then can be pulled upward to fold the four side tubes of the top frame and the bottom frame. Taiwan utility model numbers M345539, M300500, M271497 are examples using the locking units mentioned above.

However, there are some drawbacks are experienced and which are that the four hard corner members at the four corners of the top frame cannot be coated with soft material because of the need of folding. The baby in the crib may hit the hard corner members at the four corners of the top frame. Furthermore, when folding the crib, the base is pulled upward to fold the bottom frame and the four side tubes of the top frame are folded at the mediate portions thereof so that the pad on the bottom frame has to be removed before folding the crib. The pad has to be stored separately from the folded crib. The pad is put into the expanded crib again when using the crib. This is inconvenient for the users.

The present invention intends to provide a crib frame which improves the shortcomings of the conventional crib frames.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a crib and comprises a top frame, four upright tubes, a bottom frame, four restriction members and two joints. The top frame includes two top end tubes and two sides connected between the two top end tubes. Each of the two sides has two side tubes between which the joint is connected. The bottom frame has two bottom tubes and each bottom tube has a straight connection section. The two respective connection sections are pivotably connected to each other and a support is connected to the bottom frame. The support has a locking unit located thereon. The four upright tubes are respectively and pivotably connected between the two top end tubes and the two bottom tubes. Four restriction members are respectively connected between the side tubes of and the upright tubes. The bottom tubes and the two sides can be folded when the locking units and joints are unlocked.

The present invention further provides a method for expanding and folding the crib, the joints and locking units are unlocked before folding the crib and the connection sections of the bottom tubes of the bottom frame are pulled upward and the bottom tubes are pivoted about reception tubes. The two bottom tubes are pulled upward and toward each other. The two side tubes of each side of the crib are pivoted relative to the joint and the two top end tubes are moved toward each other. When expanding the crib, the connection sections of the bottom tubes are pivoted downward to move the top end tubes away from each other. The locking units are automatically locked when the two side tubes of each of the two sides of the crib are positioned horizontally.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a crib wherein the two sides of the top frame and the two bottom tubes of the bottom frame can be easily folded and expanded.

The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view to show the expanded status of the crib of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view to show the connection, in expanded status, between the top frame and the upright tube of the crib of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view to show the connection, in expanded status, between the bottom frame of the crib of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an end cross sectional view of the connection between the locking unit and the two bottom tubes in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end cross sectional view to show that the locking unit is unlocked;

FIG. 6 shows the folded status of the crib of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view to show the bottom frame, in folded status, of the crib of the present invention, and

FIG. 8 is an end cross sectional view of the connection between the locking unit and the two bottom tubes when the crib of the present invention is folded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the crib of the present invention comprises a top frame 1, four upright tubes 2, a bottom frame 3, four restriction members 4 and two joints 5.

The top frame 1 comprises two top end tubes 11 and two sides connected between the two top end tubes 11 to form a rectangular frame. Each of the two sides has two side tubes 112 with one joint 5 pivotably connected therebetween. Each top end tube 11 has a straight section 111 which has two ends extending therefrom. The two ends of each top end tube 11 are respectively connected to two respective ends of the two side tubes 112 on different sides of the crib.

The four upright tubes 2 are respectively and pivotably connected between the two top end tubes 11 and four legs 21, and the four legs 21 are pivotably connected to two bottom tubes 31. In this embodiment, the two respective top ends of the four upright tubes 2 are pivotably connected to the connection portion between the straight section 111 and the side tube 112.

The bottom frame 3 has the two bottom tubes 31 and each bottom tubes 31 is substantially a U-shaped tube and has a straight connection section 311. Two supports 32 are pivotably connected between the two connection sections 311 and each of the supports 32 has a locking unit 33 located thereon.

The four restriction members 4 are respectively connected between the side tubes 112 of the top end tube 11 and the upright tubes 2. Each of the of the restriction members 4 has a sleeve 41, a link 42 and a fixing member 43. The sleeve 41 is mounted to the side tube 112 and the fixing member 43 is connected to the side tube 112. The fixing member 43 is located adjacent to the sleeve 41 and protrudes from the top of the top end tube 11. The link 42 is pivotably between the sleeve 41 and the upright tube 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when expanding the crib, the two side tubes 112 on each side of the crib are located by the joint 5 and the locking units 33 lock the two bottom tubes 31 of the bottom frame 3. The sleeve 41 is stopped by the fixing member 43, so that the sleeve 41 is restricted from moving toward the straight section 111. Accordingly, the crib is expanded and does not shake.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, when folding the crib, the locking units 33 and the joints 5 are unlocked, because the sleeves 41 can only be movable along the side tubes 112 of the top frame 1, so that the two bottom tubes 31 of the bottom frames 3 are pivoted relative to the connection sections 311 and pulled upward, the two bottom tubes 31 are pivoted upward relative to the lower ends of the upright tubes 2. The connection sections 311 are moved upward and the two remote ends of the two bottom tubes 31 are moved toward each other. The two side tubes 112 on each side of the crib are pivoted downward relative to the joint 5. The two top tubes 11 are pivotably downward relative to the upright tubes 2 and the two straight sections 111 are moved toward each other. Eventually, the top frame 1 and the bottom frame 3 are folded easily.

It is noted that the supports 32 each have two reception tubes 321 through which two connection sections 311 of the two bottom tubes 31 extend. Each of the two reception tubes 321 has a slot 322 and a positioning member 34 extends through slot 322 and is fixed to the connection section 311. The two bottom tubes 31 are pivotably connected to each other by the supports 32. The bottom tubes 31 are pivotable within the slots 322 of the supports 32.

When the crib is expanded, for safety consideration, the locking units 33 are located between the supports 32 and the bottom tubes 31, so that the even if the top frame 1 and the upright tubes 2 are unlocked, the bottom frame 3 cannot be folded. The two bottom tubes 31 can be folded when the locking units 33 are unlocked.

The locking units 33 each are a plate 331 located above the two reception tubes 321 and the connection bridge 323 between the reception tubes 321. The plate 331 has two holes 332 and the inner diameter of each of the holes 332 is larger than the top head of the positioning member 34. A pin 333 extends through an elongate slot through the plate 331 and the connection bridge 323 between the reception tubes 321. A resilient member 334 is mounted to the pin 333 and biased between the connection bridge 323 and the lower head of the pin 333. When the bottom frame 3 is expanded, the two heads of the positioning members 34 are simply inserted through the holes 332 of the plate 331 to lock the expanded status of the bottom frame 3.

When folding the crib, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, besides unlocking the joints 5 of the top frame 1, the locking units 33 of the bottom frame 3 are unlocked by pushing upward the pins 333 of the locking units 33 from their lower ends so as to move the plates 331 relative to the positioning members 34, the two bottom tubes 31 are then able to be pivoted. The heads of the positioning members 34 then removed from the holes 332 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. As described before, the two bottom tubes 31 of the bottom frames 3 are pivoted relative to the connection sections 311 and pulled upward, the two bottom tubes 31 are pivoted upward relative to the lower ends of the upright tubes 2. The connection sections 311 are moved upward and the two remote ends of the two bottom tubes 31 are moved toward each other. The two side tubes 112 on each side of the crib are pivoted downward relative to the joint 5. The two top tubes 11 are pivotably downward relative to the upright tubes 2 and the two straight sections 111 are moved toward each other. Eventually, the top frame 1 and the bottom frame 3 are folded. When expanding the crib, the above actions are proceeded in reverse sequences and the joints 5 and the locking units 33 are automatically locked.

The four corners of the crib of the present invention do not have to be mounted by hard corner members and instead, soft material can be mounted to the corners of the crib. This protects the baby when using the crib.

The pad in the crib does not need to be removed when expanding or folding the crib so that the crib is conveniently operated.

While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A crib comprising: a top frame having two top end tubes and two sides connected between the two top end tubes, each of the two sides having two side tubes, each top end tube having a straight section and each straight section having two ends extending therefrom, the two ends of each top end tube respectively connected to two respective ends of the two side tubes on different sides; four upright tubes respectively and pivotably connected between the two top end tubes and four legs, the four legs pivotably connected to two bottom tubes; a bottom frame having the two bottom tubes and each bottom tubes being substantially a U-shaped tube and having a straight connection section, at least one support pivotably connected between the two connection sections, the at least one support having a locking unit located thereon; four restriction members respectively connected between the side tubes of the top frame and the upright tubes, and two joints respectively pivotably connected between the side tubes of the two sides of the top frame.
 2. The crib as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the restriction members has a sleeve, a link and a fixing member, the sleeve is mounted to the side tube and the fixing member is connected to the side tube, the fixing member is located adjacent to the sleeve and protrudes from a top of the top end tube, the link is pivotably between the sleeve and the upright tube.
 3. The crib as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one support has two reception tubes through which two connection sections of the two bottom tubes extend, each of the two reception tubes has a slot and a positioning member extends through slot and is fixed to the connection section, the two bottom tubes are pivotably connected to each other by the at least one support, the bottom tubes are pivotable within the slots of the at least one support.
 4. The crib as claimed in claim 3, wherein the locking unit is a plate located above the two reception tubes and a connection bridge between the reception tubes, the plate has two holes and an inner diameter of each of the holes is larger than a top head of the positioning member, a pin extends through an elongate slot through the plate and the connection bridge between the reception tubes, a resilient member is mounted to the pin and biased between the connection bridge and a lower head of the pin.
 5. A method for expanding and folding the crib as claimed in claim 1, the method comprising: unlocking the joints and locking units before folding the crib, pulling the connection sections of the bottom tubes of the bottom frame upward and the bottom tubes being pivoted about reception tubes, the two bottom tubes being pulled upward and toward each other, the two side tubes of each side of the crib being pivoted relative to the joint and the two top end tubes being moved toward each other, when expanding the crib, the connection sections of the bottom tubes being pivoted downward to move the top end tubes away from each other, the locking units being automatically locked when the two side tubes of each of the two sides of the crib are positioned horizontally.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the restriction members has a sleeve, a link and a fixing member, the sleeve is mounted to the side tube and the fixing member is connected to the side tube, the fixing member is located adjacent to the sleeve and protrudes from a top of the top end tube, the link is pivotably between the sleeve and the upright tube.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least one support has two reception tubes through which two connection sections of the two bottom tubes extend, each of the two reception tubes has a slot and a positioning member extends through slot and is fixed to the connection section, the two bottom tubes are pivotably connected to each other by the at least one support, the bottom tubes are pivotable within the slots of the at least one support.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the locking unit is a plate located above the two reception tubes and a connection bridge between the reception tubes, the plate has two holes and an inner diameter of each of the holes is larger than a top head of the positioning member, a pin extends through an elongate slot through the plate and the connection bridge between the reception tubes, a resilient member is mounted to the pin and biased between the connection bridge and a lower head of the pin. 